The New York Giants will be operating without franchise quarterback Jaxson Dart for the foreseeable future.
When the 23-year-old will return to the football field is anyone’s guess, but initial reports are saying that his knee injury was “worse than anticipated” and that he’s expected to miss an extended period of time, quite possibly the rest of the season.
Dart got smashed between two Rams pass rushers (Byron Young and Josaiah Stewart) on the first drive of Monday night’s Week 2 primetime loss in Los Angeles. His leg bent horrifically awkwardly, and the second-year QB immediately grabbed his left knee in visible pain. There was an initial -- and in hindsight, ultimately misplaced -- wave of optimism. He walked off under his own power, X-rays came back negative, he felt good enough to ask to come back into the game, and finished the game on the sideline in street clothes.
Unfortunately, reading between the lines meant absolutely nothing, as Big Blue is set to forge ahead without its fearless leader under center. The team has Jameis Winston for this exact reason, but he had a rough go of it in relief.
That should open the door at least a little bit to the idea of poaching Dallas Cowboys practice squad QB Joe Milton III, who’s coming off an electric preseason and waiting for his next opportunity to start in the NFL.
Giants could turn Jaxson Dart disaster into Joe Milton flyer
It's easy to immediately jump into panic mode when something like this happens, but swinging for the fences for a big trade just doesn't feel like it makes a lot of sense, if any at all.
Which is why Milton makes a lot of sense for the G-Men. They get their big swing without having to give up any assets in return.
Since the 26-year-old is on Dallas’ P-Squad, the Giants can sign him directly to their active roster. However, if they do poach him from their division rivals, they need to keep him on the 53-man roster for at least three weeks.
At this point, it'd either be Milton or Jake Haener getting elevated off New York's practice squad to fill in the backup QB role, so there's really no roster spot to lose.
Milton was originally drafted in the sixth round of the 2024 Draft (193rd pick) out of Tennessee by the New England Patriots. He was traded to the Cowboys in 2025 to avoid any potential locker room friction with Drake Maye also on the roster and selected in the 2024 Draft.
The 6-foot-5, 236-pounder with a cannon for an arm has played in five games over his first two seasons in the league, throwing for 424 yards, two touchdowns, and two interceptions, while completing 69.8% of his passes. This past preseason, he was even better, completing 29 of 43 passes for 378 yards, three touchdowns, and zero interceptions.
I've been beating the Milton-to-NY drum for a minute, and now feels like just as good a time as ever.
If Dart really is done for most -- or potentially all -- of 2026, the Giants are going to need another quarterback anyway. They could elevate Haener and call it a day, or they could use the open roster spot to take a free swing on someone with considerably more upside and talent.
Stealing him from the Cowboys in the process definitely wouldn’t hurt.
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